Iannucci first took on US politics in the 2009 film In the Loop which featured many actors from The Thick of It playing similar characters. The film features a diplomatic tour-de-farce between British and American officials in the lead up to a conflict that seems very similar to the Iraq war. Here’s Iannucci talking about In the Loop, which opened 3 years ago this week, with clips from the film including James Gandolfini (The Sopranos) as a US General:

Julia Louis-Dreyfus is best known for her role as Elaine on Seinfeld. Not everyone is aware that she was a cast member on Saturday Night Live in the early 1980s. Now you are one of the lucky ones. Here’s Julia in an MTV News sketch impersonating original “VJ” Nina Blackwood on a 1984 SNL episode: